Rural landscapes: Merry Christmas from Alberta
SNOWY WAGON NEAR CALGARY, ALBERTA
Could you ask for better conditions to capture a winsome Christmas image? The wagon was close to the fence, so I went for the shallowest possible depth of field in order to put the fence out of focus.
A full-colour version (which you can see here: https://bit.ly/SnowyChristmasWagon) has been one of my most popular pictures on another website, selling almost 10 times over the years. But I like this version’s popping red surrounded by black-and-white.
Some thoughts on the season, from “Frank’s Cottage,” my other website: Christmas is about our creator seeing our broken condition and reaching out to us — coming to earth as a helpless baby born in an obscure Middle Eastern village. That’s what makes this season so wonderful. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod
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Natural landscapes: the epic valley view
COLUMBIA RIVER VALLEY, RADIUM, BRITISH COLUMBIA
As Highway 93 heads south from this town, there are spectacular viewpoints to see over the valley and Rocky Mountains to the west. I especially like the grasslands landscape, but as I looked through the camera viewfinder, I knew adding a person to the scene would give you something to rest your eyes on in the bottom half of the composition. So I turned on the camera timer and galloped down the hill a half-dozen times to make exposures. This one is the best of the bunch. Here’s the scene in full colour: https://bit.ly/WalkingInRadium.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the mountains and sky
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Natural landscapes: under the dome of sunrise
DAWN COLOURS, BOW RIVER, CALGARY, ALBERTA
I’ve seen more spectacular sunrises, but for some reason this scene – just a few kilometres east of this western Canadian city’s downtown core – came together spectacularly well. It helped to have a nice mix of water and ice. Plus, the long exposure turned the water mostly silky, which helped it reflect the sunrise colours.
Nikon D7100, tripod, two graduated density (darkening) filters on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the dance of ice and water
WINTER AT SINCLAIR CREEK, KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
I had planned all along to finish my day-long photo trip with a stop at this stream in the Canadian Rockies. As you can see, I was not disappointed.
The sun had set by the time I made this picture and I needed a 15-second exposure to compensate for the declining light. In fact, my long-exposure picture-making along this creek ended when my camera battery ran out of power.
The picture works very well in colour (which you can see here: https://bit.ly/SinclairCreek), but I knew it would be quite attractive in monotone. Do you agree?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Urban landscapes: approaching the avenue of trees
BROOKFIELD PLACE, CALGARY ALBERTA
Completed in 2017, the 56-storey, 810-foot Brookfield Place is the tallest building in Calgary and among the ten tallest in Canada.
I struggled to capture the building’s outdoor plaza and trees until figuring out how to add the illuminated bench to the scene. Then I figured out how to add the small restaurant building to the composition. Finally, tilting the camera a bit introduced more dynamic lines to the final photo.
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Natural landscapes: in the land of dinosaur hunters
WINTER AT DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK, NEAR BROOKS, ALBERTA
Many people have never walked in the strange, fascinating world of badlands. So to see them covered in snow is even more exotic. I spent half a day here (one of the world’s most important dinosaur fossil sources) and it was glorious – photogenic landscapes were everywhere and I did not encounter even one other human being.
The only real colour in this scene was blue, so I opted to show you a monotone version, which heightens the drama. That said, here’s what the park looks like in winter colour: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-12t.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the snowy mountain perspective
SNOWY TREES IN A HIGH MEADOW, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I made the short, steep trek up from the road to check out the post-snowfall views and was blessed with this glorious scene.
As is so often the case with winter pictures, the colour version is compelling (you can see it here: https://bit.ly/SnowyBanffTrees) but going black-and-white increases the drama.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: the road to winter heaven
COUNTRY ROAD NEAR THE COWBOY TRAIL, ALBERTA
The Cowboy Trail is one of the most astonishingly beautiful drives in Canada. I love it in all seasons, but winter often provides the most spectacular photo opportunities – as you can see here. Look carefully and you can spy the Rocky Mountains shrouded under the clouds.
The colour version is nice (you can see it here: https://bit.ly/CowboyTrailWinter) but as is so often the case with winter pictures, the black-and-white version has far more drama.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: the past in the present
ANTIQUE RAKER NEAR PINCHER CREEK, ALBERTA
Loved the setting – the glorious Canadian prairies and Rocky Mountain foothills – and loved the colour palette of this antique raker. The trick was to decide on the background.
I made one close-up photo with a wide-angle lens, then moved back and tried the same scene with a telephoto lens. That’s the one I like better, because it brings the distant hills much closer.
Nikon D7100 tripod, 70-300mm. zoom lens, polarizing filter
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Urban landscapes: Returning to the river
STREAM FLOWING INTO THE BOW RIVER, CALGARY, ALBERTA
This stream is actually part of the river; the water is diverted as it flows around Prince’s Island, an oasis on the north side of this western Canadian city’s downtown core.
I was there on a cold November morning and was delighted to find this combination of flowing water, river and the beautifully lit Centre Street Bridge.
I was on the other side of the creek when I realized there was a great picture to be had, so I darted across the water (avoiding getting a ‘soaker’ – yay!) and made a ciruitous route to this perspective, all the ensure my snowy footprints would not be in the photo.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the bridge and sky
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Natural landscapes: the details of winter beauty
VERMILION RIVER AT NUMA FALLS, KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
The Rocky Mountain waterfall is gorgeous, especially in winter (you can see it here: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-zN). But there’s more to this wonderful section of the river, so after finishing with the falls, I spent time searching out beautiful little spaces like this. Cold? Oh, yes. But the creative possibilities were such that I barely noticed.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter and probably a darkening filter
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Urban landscapes: the woosh of transportation
C-TRAIN IN MOTION, CALGARY, ALBERTA
The light rapid transit system in this western Canadian city is always good for long-exposure pictures; the trick is to make those exposures in compelling environments. I think this scene, captured before dawn, qualifies.
The soaring skyscraper, completed in 2017, is Brookfield Place, At 56 stories and 810 feet, it’s the tallest building in Calgary and among the ten tallest in Canada.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Urban landscapes: a drive along the river
BOW RIVER AND MEMORIAL DRIVE, CALGARY, ALBERTA
As dawn slowly approached, I found a good vantage point on a pedestrian bridge to photograph the river and road in the dim light. You’ll notice that beyond the road and streetlight reflections in the water, this is basically a black-and-white photo.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Rural landscapes: the wintery autumn drive
FALL IN THE FOOTHILLS, NEAR BLACK DIAMOND, ALBERTA
I was blessed to find time to drive through this wonderful landscape just a few days after a significant autumn snowfall. It was hard to make a bad picture that morning. 🙂
There was very little significant colour in this scene, so I turned everything but the farm buildings into black-and-white. Love how Photoshop makes this kind of thing so possible.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: before the lake freezes
LATE AUTUMN AT LAKE LOUISE, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I’ve rarely been able to visit this iconic Canadian Rocky Mountain lake with snow and before the water freezes for six months. So this was a bonus; I was there to go for a walk with my lovely wife and this was the only composition I photographed – so a 100 percent success rate on this “photo” trip! 😉
The colour version is pretty cool – you can see it here: http://bit.ly/AutumnAtLakeLouise – but even as I made this picture I knew I would create a B&W version just ’cause monotone is often more dramatic. And if you check out the colour version, you’ll see that’s true.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on most of the sky.
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Urban landscapes: the painted sunrise
CLOUDS AT DAWN, CALGARY, ALBERTA
Yes, that November sunrise really was this spectacular. First, I made some gobsmacking pictures along the Bow River, which flows through this western Canadian city (here’s an example: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-KO), then walked over to a small pond just east of the downtown skyscrapers. A gazebo adds a human touch to the spectacle.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky, enhancing filter.
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Rural landscapes: the wintery dawn
SUNRISE AFTER THE AUTUMN SNOWFALL, NEAR BLACK DIAMOND, ALBERTA
Winter often arrives early in the prairies, foothills and mountains of this western Canadian province. I ventured out a few days after a significant snowfall and was blessed to find scenes like this. I went for a shallow depth of field so the distant background would go “soft” and be more complimentary (and less competititive for your attention) with the closer hay roll.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: the end of autumn colour
FALL LEAVES IN A BACKYARD, QUIDI VIDI (ST JOHN’S), NEWFOUNDLAND
I parked my car just a few feet away and immediately noticed this compelling mix of fence posts, yellow leaves and brilliant red siding. Colourful exteriors are quite common in this eastern Canadian province, but this scene made me stop and spend 20 minutes trying out compositions. This is the best of the bunch.
I went for a very shallow depth of field, so the soft-focus siding would complement the scene, rather than dominate it. Just a processing note: the fence posts had a slight blue cast that I didn’t care for, so I converted them into black-and-white.
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Natural landscapes: when the snows of October arrive
SNOWY TREE TRUNK AND WETLANDS, NEAR EXSHAW, ALBERTA
After a Friday night snowfall that put about two inches of snow in Calgary, I headed out before dawn to find snowy landscapes in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Going west, I encountered at least six inches of snow – along with recurrent squalls – in scenes like this.
Might be hard to believe that snow can arrive this early, but it can happen year-round in the mountains and foothills of Alberta. The scene had almost no colour, so it was a no-brainer to make the picture black-and-white.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
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Rural landscapes: dawn at the dam
GHOST LAKE AND DAM, NEAR COCHRANE, ALBERTA
I was heading west of my Calgary home to photograph autumn ponds-and-new-snow landscapes when I drove along the edge of this lake and saw the beautifully lit dam and the sky beginning to glow with the first light of day.
So I parked at the picnic area and spent the next half-hour making a variety of loooong exposure pictures. This composition is one of the best. If you enlarge the photo, you’ll see the boats on the left are quite blurry because they were gently rocking through the entire exposure.
PS: the pod pier isn’t white. That’s snow.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “Frank King’s Southern Alberta“: http://bit.ly/1oUzd4A
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